Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

• Genesis 2:25

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

• John 1:1-5

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

• John 14:15-21

“ ‘The first of the three dispensations was in the time of the Law, when the people of the Lord served like a little child for a time under the elements of the world … The second dispensation was under the Gospel and lasts until the present. It is free in comparison with the past, but not in comparison with the future … The third dispensation will come toward the end of the world. No longer under the veil of the letter, but in the full freedom of the Spirit. The first dispensation is ascribed to the Father. The second to the Son. The third to the Holy Spirit.’ (Exposition of the Book of Revelation. Introduction, Chapter 5).”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

Joachim of Fiore, aka Joachim of Flora (1135-1202) came up with three dispensations.  Was he the first?  The term “Dispensationalism” did not exist until Philip Mauro argued against it in his book, written in 1928.  The bulk of the dispensationalist theories stem from a Plymouth Brethren pastor in the 1800s, John Nelson Darby.  While many denominations today embrace dispensationalism, there are many who do not agree.

But within dispensationalists, there is an argument as to what the dispensations should be.  The dispensations are based on historical, or prophetic, points in time.  Depending on which dispensational theory you accept, there could be 3, 4, 7, or 8 steps.

The first of the three-step dispensation in dispensationalism is identical with the dispensation of Joachim of Fiore, the whole of the New Testament and the period until Jesus is born.  Joachim states that the “Age of the Son” was from that moment until the time when Joachim dreamed up this theory.  At that point, the “Age of the Spirit” takes over.  The three steps of dispensationalism are the Law, Grace, and the Kingdom.  With the Law corresponding with the Old Testament, and Grace corresponding with the Gospels, the Kingdom basically is described by the millennial reign of Jesus.

Let us say that I agree with dispensationalism, the three-step variety, and most Calvinist disagree, adhering to the Covenant Theory (three stages with the same titles, but the Covenant of Grace begins with God’s promise to Eve that her offspring will crush the serpent’s head).

Even with me agreeing, for this discussion, with the three-step dispensationalism, I have a great deal of heartburn regarding the descriptions used by Joachim of Fiore.  The Spirit hovered over the waters during Creation.  Jesus said that before Abraham was, “I AM.”  John starts his Gospel with the Word (Jesus) being a person in the Godhead prior to Creation, and through the Word all things were made.  So, just getting through Creation, we see the work of all three persons of the Trinity.  Reducing the Old Testament to God, the Father is dangerous in other areas as well.  When Jesus appears in Christophanies in the Old Testament, it begs the question of, “If this is the Age of the Father, then why is it necessary for Jesus (the Lord) to appear?”  And if the Age of the Holy Spirit is from any point in past history until the end of time, how does that square with Jesus returning with the Angel Armies?  And Jesus instructed us to pray to God, the Father, thus relegating Him to the Old Testament makes no sense.

And it seems awfully arrogant on Joachim’s part that the Holy Spirit’s age cannot start until Joachim says so.  Jesus states that when He leaves, the Holy Spirit then will come.  So, how does Joachim relegate the work of the Holy Spirit until after 1260AD, when Jesus has been with the Father since His ascension, and the Holy Spirit has been doing His thing since Pentecost?

So, even if you buy into dispensationalism, the historical events work better for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ages, to be the Old Testament and the gap, the Gospels through Acts 1, and then the rest of the Bible until there is a new Heaven and new Earth.

But, I feel that these historical events are rather arbitrary compared to the covenants that establish a promise made by God and the carrying out of that covenant.  The Old Testament covenants and promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but not complete fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets in that a lot pertains to the millennial kingdom.  Thus, equating one system to explain the history of mankind with another gets messy.

As for the four-step dispensation, it splits the Old Testament at Exodus 20.  Prior to Exodus 20, it is considered the patriarchal step with the Mosaic step lasting until the birth of Jesus.

In the seven or eight step system, the four-step system has one division common to both the 7 or 8 step system.  The patriarchal system uses Innocence to be Genesis 1-3, Conscience to be Genesis 3-8, Civil Government to be Genesis 9-11, and then Patriarchal (or Promise) to be Genesis 12-Exodus 19.  The eight step system adds a final step, the Eternal State to be described by Revelation 20-22.

So, regardless to the historical periods, all are flawed when comparing to concepts of which person of the Trinity is the focus.  Using the various dispensations or the covenants, provide some benchmarks.  It provides us terms like the present “church” age.  But deciding whether the church age ends with the Rapture or some other event depends on other controversies that have theologians arguing.

Did Joachim give us food for thought, or did he provide a rudimentary structure that has been refined ever since?  In my opinion, it changes nothing regarding the basics that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, and we must trust Him and buy into God’s Will on earth.  Yet, Joachim of Fiore provides a structure to help discuss the basic historical or prophetic events and apply the promises made by God to those events.  If for no other reason, we can thank Joachim for providing a platform within which we can talk about the promises of God.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.